RED BARNET

Their core work

Red Barnet is the Danish national organisation of Save the Children, one of the world's largest child-focused NGOs. In EU research projects, they contribute frontline practitioner knowledge and field access related to children and youth in humanitarian and displacement contexts — particularly refugees, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied minors in Europe. Their H2020 work spans education in emergency settings, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and integration programming delivered through formal, non-formal, and informal channels. They bring an operational grounding that research-heavy consortia typically lack: direct access to reception centres, hotspots, and affected communities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Red Barnet entered H2020 with LNOB (2019–2021) in a coordinator role, focusing broadly on youth in protracted crises — the project left no detailed keywords, suggesting an early, exploratory engagement with EU research frameworks. Their second project, REFUGE-ED (2021–2023), shows a sharper, more operationally specific focus: MHPSS, formal and non-formal education pathways, reception centres, and unaccompanied minors. The shift is from general crisis response framing toward evidence-based integration practice with defined sub-populations and settings. The trend suggests growing confidence in translating frontline NGO expertise into structured research contributions.

Red Barnet is moving toward evidence-based practice partnerships in refugee integration — likely to continue seeking consortia that need a practitioner organisation with direct access to displaced children and operational sites across Europe.

How they like to work

Red Barnet has both led a project (LNOB, as coordinator) and joined as a partner (REFUGE-ED), indicating flexibility in consortium roles. Their consortia are small — 9 unique partners across 7 countries over two projects — which suggests targeted, purpose-built teams rather than large platform consortia. As a civil society organisation with field operations, they are most likely sought out as the practitioner anchor that gives research teams access to real populations and implementation environments.

Red Barnet has collaborated with 9 unique partners across 7 countries, a lean but geographically spread network for just two projects. Their partnerships span both EU member states and countries affected by refugee flows, reflecting the cross-border nature of their work.

What sets them apart

Red Barnet is one of very few Danish H2020 participants operating as a child-focused humanitarian NGO with direct field presence in refugee reception settings — a profile almost absent among the universities and research institutes that dominate Horizon consortia. For any consortium studying migration, refugee integration, or child welfare in Europe, Red Barnet offers something no university can replicate: trusted access to children, families, and frontline practitioners in reception centres and hotspots. Their Save the Children network also provides potential reach well beyond Denmark when pan-European implementation or dissemination is needed.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REFUGE-ED
  The largest project by budget (EUR 548,170) and the most thematically focused — explicitly combining education, MHPSS, and social integration for refugee children across multiple educational settings, making it a strong reference for any consortium in this space.
• LNOB
  Red Barnet acted as coordinator — rare for an NGO in H2020 — on a project addressing youth left behind in protracted crises, demonstrating capacity to lead EU-funded research consortia, not just participate.